This 1933 magazine article anticipating the reign of FDR appeared on the newsstands on the same day as the man's first inauguration. The article is composed of various musings that had been published in numerous papers across the economically depressed nation as to what manner of leadership might the Americans expect from their new President.
"No President has ever inherited such a load of problems and responsibilities as Roosevelt. Click here to read President Hoover's
farewell warning to the nation.
Here are the "Chief accomplishments of the special Session of the 73rd Congress, March 9 - June 16, 1933"
These fifteen pieces of legislation were called "the Honeymoon Bills" - his critics pointed out that not one of them originated in Congress and added to their argument that Congress had been marginalized during the earliest period of his presidency.
FDR's critics had a thing or two to say about the first year of "The New Deal"...
Click here to read about FDR and the press.
"In certain quarters it is asserted that Mr. Roosevelt's 'New Deal' is nothing other than the first stage of an American movement toward Fascism. It is said that, although the United States has not yet adopted the political structure of Italy and Germany, the economic structure of the country is rapidly being molded upon the Fascist pattern." This article makes it quite clear that Harry Hopkins (1890 – 1946) wore many hats in the administration of FDR.
During the first five years of the New Deal he had the unique title "Special Assistant to the President", he not only wrote speeches for FDR - Hopkins also oversaw the goings-on at the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Between the years 1938 through 1940, he served as Secretary of Commerce and when the war came he supervised the Lend-Lease program, the Chairman of the Munitions Assignment Board and traveled frequently as the President's representative to Moscow and London.
When the U.S.S.R. collapsed, it was discovered that one of his additional duties was being a Soviet agent.
Click here to read about another member of the "New Deal Brain-Trust"...
Read an anti-Gandhi article from 1921...
Samuel Rosenman (1896 – 1973) was an attorney, judge and a highly placed insider within the ranks of the Democratic Party, both in Albany and the nation's capital. It was Rosenman who helped articulated many of FDR's policies, wrote numerous executive orders and conceived of the moniker "New Deal". He was the first lawyer to hold the position White House Counsel and he was an indispensable advisor to Roosevelt throughout the course of his New York governorship as well as his presidency. Just weeks before the U.S. presidential election of 1932 this article appeared in a political magazine that indicated how the Depression-tossed voters were feeling after three years of economic set-backs. The article consists of 21 pithy little paragraphs that sum up their feelings:
"I BELIEVE it possible to feel hungry under either major party, but that under the Republicans it seems to hurt more."
Click here to read about the extensive press coverage that was devoted to the death of FDR...
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